How does the idea of God as the prime mover raise questions about human freedom?

The concept of God as the prime mover—the initial cause of all events—creates a significant challenge for human freedom and moral responsibility. If God is the ultimate source of all actions, it raises the question of how humans can be considered free to act otherwise, or how they can be held morally accountable for actions that were ultimately caused by a divine power.1

Medieval Scholastic philosophers addressed this tension by examining whether a deterministic universe, initiated by God, precludes free agency. St. Thomas Aquinas argued that this conflict is reconcilable, positing that God acts as the source of human freedom rather than its inhibitor. He maintained that God moves humans in accordance with their voluntary natures; just as God moves natural causes without stripping them of their natural properties, He moves voluntary causes without depriving them of their voluntary character. Consequently, because humans are created by God, their wills are viewed as being in natural harmony with His, allowing for the existence of free agency despite God’s role as the prime mover.1